Some like their food mildly spiced, others like it hot enough to bring on the tears, and then there are those who won’t be satisfied until it actually destroys their taste-buds. A friend of mine falls into the third category—his favourite dessert is loaded with chillies and just a wee bit of chocolate. On his behest, we traipsed across Mumbai to find the city’s fieriest dishes. Here’s what we found:

1.Bangda Pulimanchi at Apoorva, Kala Ghoda
I’ve found a new favourite haunt – Mangalorean restaurant Apoorva—at Kala Ghoda. The Bangda Pulimanchi we ate there was worth every rupee of the 200 we shelled out and more. The flaming red colour alone is enough to ignite your taste buds. The mackerel was cooked in a delectable, oh-so-spicy hot-and-sour sauce that surprisingly did not detract from the dish’s yumminess. Worth a try.

2.Pork Vindaloo at C D’Souza, Marine Lines
The word “vindaloo” might sound cute, but trust us, there is nothing harmless about it. Vindaloo is among the spiciest foods in the world, and the one at C D’Souza, changed from Marosa’s, does full justice to its reputation. Spiced with the hottest chillies and vinegar to sharpen the taste, this is one pork dish we would go back for again and again.

3.Sous-Vide Goat Bao at The Bao Haus Co., Colaba
Cooked using the sous-vide slow cooking technique, the goat bao served here uses a number of different chillies to create a stunning taste. We will not lie, we required a few cold drinks to get over this one! The bao contains pickled pears in Kashmiri chilli, jalapenos, and of course, perfectly seasoned goat meat. The sides include the Thai Sriracha sauce made with blazing-hot red serrano peppers.

4.Dancing Prawns at The Fatty Bao, Bandra
Truth be told, we found two dishes here that vied for our attention – the Dancing Prawns and the Spicy Red Chicken Ramen. The Dancing Prawns are prepared with lemon and the house-special chilli jam made from Thai Bird’s Eye chillies, while the SRCR is an eye-watering chilli broth made of kaffir lime, scallions, lemongrass, dashi/stock, and a generous helping of chicken. With plenty of sniffles and watering eyes, we finished both dishes, but not without downing a few glasses of chilled water.

5.Naga Pork and Noodle Bowl at Monkey Bar, Bandra
Clocking over one million on the Scoville spice scale, the Naga bhut jolokia chilli is 100 times spicier than jalapeno peppers. You wouldn’t understand the impact of these numbers until you feel your mouth actually being set aflame by them! Pork belly is slow cooked with these extra-extra-spicy chillies, bamboo shoots, and noodles to make this fiery bowl. We raised our white handkerchiefs (which we used to mop our tears) in total surrender.